Phanza

→ JR Forasteros: “Good News: The Avengers Ruined Super Hero Movies”

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:49:57 EDT

I thouroughly enjoy reading JR Forasteros’s blog. His latest post detailing how The Avengers has changed the model of Super Hero movies is really great.

Super-hero movies must become more character- and story-driven if they want to thrive in a post-Avengers world.

He discusses the formula for a great summer blockbuster. Then gets into the difference between The Avengers and Christopher Nolan’s fantastic Batman movies.

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→ Interview on the new ND.EDU

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:56:48 EDT

Their new homepage represents a boldness rarely seen from universities. It demonstrates a willingness to try something different and to own the details that make Notre Dame unique.

Doug Gapinksi over at mStoner interviews Nick Johnson, Eirk Runyon, and me on what went into building the new Notre Dame website.

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→ Macrotypography

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:02:33 EDT

Nice article on Smashing on making web content more readable. Make sure you’re giving your body content room to breathe. That content is the reason your website exists.

My one gripe is the font stacks that are presented. Why would Helvetica be placed as the fallback to Arial in the font stack and not the other way around? I stated my confusion with this on Twitter and Jonathan Stegall points out that this is the default font stack in Dreamweaver.

Oh, Adobe.

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Second Crack Hooks

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:13:19 EDT

Finally doing some updating on the code-side of Phanza. I’ve been wanting to try out the hook abilities for some time. It is quite appealing to have your latest blog post be sent to Twitter automatically.

I know I talk about it too much¹, but if you are a tinkerer like me you’ll enjoy messing around with Second Crack.

I don’t have much else to talk about anyway. ↩

→ I Know That Voice Trailer

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:02:00 EDT

I love and am intrigued by the art of voice acting. This documentary reveals the identities of those behind some of our favorite characters. Can’t wait to see it.

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→ CSS3 Multi-column Lists

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:32:07 EDT

My coworker Erik Runyon delves into the issues and solutions we discovered while working on the latest version of Notre Dame’s website. The CSS3 multi-column declaration is a fantastic addition to the standards, but really requires some finesse.

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Issues with Dropbox on a Server

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:44:39 EDT

I run this site using Marco Arment’s Second Crack. Great system for programming-knowledgeable folks who just want to write and not deal with some overladen CMS or Blog software like Drupal or Wordpress. My favorite feature of Second Crack is the ability to use Dropbox as an intermediary between my text editor and my website. I write in a text editor on my MacBook, iPad, or iPhone, save it in a folder on Dropbox, then Second Crack grabs the latest file marked to publish and creates the HTML on my site.

Simple. But, this is where the problems began.

I received an email last night from my host stating that I was in breech of the Terms of Service. Their reasoning was due to Storage/Backup Constraints. Panicked, I jumped into my account to see where the issue was. I looked up storage info and discovered that my Dropbox folder was topping out at 20 gigs!

How in the world does a folder full of text files reach 20GB?

Well, turns out Dropbox does a bit more than its free 2GB of space. Dropbox also saves versions and allows deleted files to be recovered. A great feature, however the data is stored on your computer, or in my case the server. This has been occurring since I first launched my site with Second Crack back in January.

After a bit of searching I found where this mass of files were located, a hidden folder called .dropbox.cache. Therein I found over 1,300 compressed files. After manually deleting them[^2], I contacted my host and they reinstated my account.

But, I can’t just go in and manually remove these files.

When running Second Crack with Dropbox you need a couple of Crob Jobs running. The first grabs the latest files from the Dropbox folder and copies them to your website. The second runs Dropbox. In trying to figure out the issue I came across one more Cron Job that should be running while using Second Crack, one to clear Dropbox’s cache.

rm -R /path/to/Dropbox/.dropbox.cache/*

This Linux script removes all files from the Dropbox cache. So far I have seen no issues in doing this, but will certainly update if I do.

Dear MacBook Air, I’ve Missed You…

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:36:06 EDT

For the last several weeks I’ve been working on a huge project at work ¹. This means I’ve been spending a lot of time with my work computer, a speced-out 15” MacBook Pro. While you are a great computer and quite speced-out yourself, I needed to keep work and home life separate. The last several weeks have required my undivided attention on this project and that meant you were neglected.

I still took you everywhere with me, but I’m sorry you’ve seen so little action. Now that the project is done², I hope things start getting back to normal. Especially, now that we’re moving into this new house, we’re going to need your help finding how to keep the place maintained. Not to mention, I really hope to write more, and you really are ideal for that.

I’ve got to say though, I’ve learned to appreciate you more the last several weeks. I’ve learned that you are a laptop, while the MBP is a mobile desktop. Seriously, that thing fries your leg and is ridiculously heavy. I much prefer your cooler operating temperatures. Yes, even when I occasionally open up Chrome and you get a hot Flash³ causing your fan to spin up. Even at your hottest, you are still much cooler than the MBP ever gets.

Anyway Air, just remember, you’re my MBA⁴.

Hugs,
Philip

Designing the University of Notre Dame’s website. ↩
We launched the new site today. nd.edu ↩
That folks, was a pun. ↩
MacBook Air, if you needed some help figuring that out. ↩

→ “If 50 is the New 30, then is 30 the new 21?”

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:06:24 EDT

JR Forasteros expands quite thoroughly on Seth Godin’s recent post, “Fifty is the new Thirty”. Essentially Godin states that as the Baby Boomer generation ages they are redefining the culture. To the extent that those that are in their fifties have a lifestyle and appearance that was once socially expected of thirty year olds.

Godin goes on to explain that this shift in our cultural behavior is a challenge to those marketing products and services.

It changes the marketing of every service and product aimed at consumers—and yet most traditional advertisers are stuck in the mindset that thirty is the end of your chance to find a new customer or build a new brand.

From here Forasteros expounds on the reasoning for a statement like Godin’s. Essentially we are living longer, so we have to adjust our norms to match that lifespan. For example, Social Security came about in 1935 and set the retirement age as 65, which just so happened to be the average life expectancy at the time. Since the 1930’s the average life expectancy has increased by 20 years. With such a dramatic shift, almost all age demographics have adjusted with exception to those in our twenties and younger.

Forasteros then cites The Wall Street Journal’s article “Where Have The Good Men Gone?”, which argues there is a common problem with men in their twenties living an extended adolescence.¹ Forasteros challenges that mindset by asking what if these aren’t problems, but an evolution in our “cultural script”?

The reality is that the Script we expect everyone to follow isn’t sacred. It’s not - as its defenders would have us believe - some monolithic pattern that humans throughout history have followed unchanged since the beginning of time.

What it means to be a fully mature, robust adult changes from culture to culture. We didn’t even have public education until the last 200 years or so. Universities aren’t that old in the grand scheme of the human race. And in the Biblical World, a guy never left home to strike out on his own. He lived with his father until Dad died, then took over as the new patriarch.

I can certainly comprehend the idea of an extended adolescence. Look at the shift in movies² in the last ten years or the average age of adults getting married. The Millennials are embracing their childhood longer and it has seeped well into the rest of the culture. But what do I know, my wife and I spent our evening yesterday gawking at some of the crazy shows we grew up with in the late 80’s and early 90’s.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Heroes in a half shell. Turtle power! …what? ↩
A Transformers Trilogy, The Smurfs, and numerous comic book hero movies. ↩

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Realizing Passions Through Instapaper

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:15:54 EDT

One of my all-time favorite applications is Instapaper by Marco Arment. I initially used this service as only a bookmarking tool. When I got an iPad I realized the true utility of Instapaper with the native app and began hitting the “Read Later” bookmarklet in my browser rabidly.

Now, after a couple years of Instapaper use, a pattern has emerged in what I “Read Later”. I’ve also noticed that I send a large number of articles into my Instapaper queue, and it takes a while before being read. But, that’s why I’m reading it later, right?¹

This pattern I’ve discovered is that the articles I tend to save can be categorized into my passions and major interests. Me? I’m a Jesus-following, technology-intrigued, social-justice wannabe, web designer.² The articles I virtually throw into Instapaper follow a similar flow.

The five latest additions to the queue are as follows:

Regarding the above, I’ve only read the first article. It’s good. I very much enjoy The Amish Jihadist’s writing style, whether or not I agree with what he opines.

Concerning the remaining four, I’ll probably only skim the second and third articles. I’m interested in the topics, but not so much to read every word.³ As far as articles four and five. I’ll read four…at some point. Article five though, that’s going to be read next. That could just be a link-bait title, but they’ve got me hooked.⁴

While the latest five articles are not entirely indicative of what I read, it is a good glimpse. There are certainly articles missing that fall in the realm of my profession, but they are there. Although I certainly have articles well outside the pattern identified, this is an observation of the majority.

Two things I would like to note. One, although there may be commonalities in topics many articles contain opposing viewpoints or opinions. Two, a vast majority of the links that land in my Instapaper queue stem from Twitter, especially these folks.

Right. ↩
Can I throw idiot or moron in there? I’m feeling especially esteem-deprived today. ↩
In the case of the Mike Daisey article, I’m aware of the situation and this article is likely not adding to what I know. ↩
Touché TIME. ↩

→ Outlet with two integrated USB ports

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:10:20 EDT

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house. I want one of these in every room.

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→ “Or the whole thing could be upside down”

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:13:30 EST

A lot of hubbub out there about what the next iPad will look like. Gizmodo has gone to great lengths to explain that the photo in Apple’s event announcement reveals that the new iPad will have no home button.

I’m curious just how disappointed these tech journalist will be when Apple names this new iPad the 2s instead of the 3.

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→ Dress Responsively

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 06:44:19 EST

A new project from the folks Sparkbox encourages “responsive-building, media-querying web citizens” to dress responsively. Right now they’re trying to build interest in the apparel. The project started off to as a mock project for Sparkbox’s Build Responsively workshop, but now they’d like to see it come to life.

Sparkbox has six t-shirt designs up for a vote. If there is sufficient interest they’ll have the winner printed and available for sale. As of this writing the current leader is called “Friends Helping Friends” with 31 votes. Check out the shirts and vote!

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→ “The Ad Man stole our imaginations and and replaced them with Barbie dolls. Why didn’t we notice?”

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:29:38 EST

JR Forasteros tackles the question “What does it mean to be ‘beautiful’?”

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→ The Great Discontent: Derek Webb

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:22:58 EST

We were looking to change the world at first. We wanted to be a disruption and push people. We wanted to say the things that nobody was saying. We did that for a little while, but when a lot of people’s jobs begin to be staked on what you’ve built and people are employed by it, there’s pressure—even if no one says a word to you about it—there’s so much pressure you impose on yourself to keep that going.

I am a craftsman and an artist. Those are identities I want to own. I admire folks like Derek Webb. An artists who uses his talent to act as a mirror for our culture, while at the same time building avenues to help fix the distorted reflection.

The Great Discontent asks some great questions to Derek, and his response were a fun read. Derek definitely has a unique, and rare, start to his music career. I am fan of his music, and really love him has an agitator. We need agitators, so we will think through the reasons why we do things culturally. So we can recognize our strengths and mend our weaknesses.

Also, if you are not familiar with NoiseTrade, which Derek helped found, it really is a great way to discover and support some fantastic musicians.

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→ Antelope Island

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:43:13 EST

My current desktop background comes from a guest post at fiftyfootshadows by Tim Sondrup. Also, if you aren’t aware of fiftyfootshadows, John Carey captures some great shots.

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RSS Readers: Features and Synchronization

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:59:47 EST

Last night I began writing a lengthy (and somewhat scathing) post about the state of RSS reader apps for iOS. I started off going through my gripes, some of which I still think are valid, and realized before I got too far down this road I needed to do some good research. Thankfully I did and came across Brent Simmons’s post “Why ‘Just Store the App Data on Dropbox’ won’t work for RSS readers”. Brent busts my biggest beef with the current crop of apps: reliance on Google Reader for sync and storage.

I, like others, am making the exodus from Google to other services. One that I am very tied to is Google Reader, primarily because of my use of Reeder for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Essentially what Brent breaks down are the synchronization pitfalls of utilizing Dropbox, WebDAV, and iDisk (I presume iCloud as well) as a database location and sync service. He puts forth scenarios where there are huge RSS feeds and listings and the issues with caching older posts, as feeds tend to be limited to only the most recent posts. The breakdown comes to the point that there is so much involved and needed for a RSS sync service to work, that it would not be cost-effective to create such a system. Hence, the wide-adoption of Google Reader for syncing in so many reader apps.

My primary complaint involves subscribing to a feed and subscription management. Reeder for Mac has these features. Adding a subscription is convenient and simple. Managing is less than desirable, but doable. In Reeder for iPhone and Reeder for iPad both features are nonexistent. If you come across a site that you’d like to add to Reeder, you have to either log in to Google Reader or pull up Reeder on your Mac. Reeder is not alone in this limitation, even NetNewsWire’s FAQ for their iPad version states that in order to add a subscription a different app is required. I may be the only one complaining, but this seems like a logical, essential, and natural feature. Perhaps this is a limitation of the Google API, but I can’t see what the reason would be.

All this aside I think Reeder is the best designed app for reading your RSS feeds. I highly recommend Reeder to anyone looking for a dedicated RSS app for both iOS and Mac.

→ Bon Joviver

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:39:51 EST

“You Give Love a Bad Name” Bon Iver style.

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→ Sevenly

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:59:21 EST

This is the type of missional action I love to see. Take something you have a talent with. Mix it with something you have a passion for. Which comes together as something extraordinary.

Sevenly creates really great looking t-shirts focusing on a weekly cause. Then for every shirt sold they give $7, about 30%, to a non-profit that focuses on that cause.

This week they are raising awareness for Autism with all funds going to support Autism Speaks.

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My iPhone Home Screen

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:42:19 EST

The home screen of my iPhone changes often. Once I realize that an app hasn’t been getting much action, it gets booted to another page. Some of my former home screen apps include Path, Flipboard, and Instagram. Now, these apps are still on my phone and get use, just not as much to merit a home screen status. My criteria for home screen eligibility has several aspects.

First off, no games. I enjoy playing games on my iPhone, but I need to keep myself in check. So, any games on my phone must reside in a “Games” folder, which is placed on one of the last screens of the phone. Second are frequently used messaging and communications apps, such as Messages, Phone, Mail, and a Twitter client. Then I have my commonly used apps followed by apps I’m trying out.

As of this mid-January writing my iPhone home screen consists of the following:

Safari

The tried and true default browser. I use it regularly. Just wish I could get DuckDuckGo as a browser option.

Agenda

This is a trial run replacement of iCal. This a universal (i.e. iPad and iPhone) app. I really like it on the iPhone, we’ll see if it lasts on the iPad.

Messages

The default and pretty good texting/chat app. I’ve tried other texting/chatting apps, but nothing has stood out as better than Apple’s.

Capture

Capture is a great app for recording video at a moments notice. Although, it has been getting less use since the quick access to the camera app was added to the lock screen in iOS 5. Still, how the app functions makes it a contender in a quick-draw video recording scenario. The moment you launch the app it begins recording video. The interface is wonderfully simple, only displaying the length of the recording and a red dot to indicate you are recording. To stop the capture, you simply hit the Home button and the video is automatically saved to your Camera Roll.

View iTunes Store

Tweetbot

I got to this party a little late, albeit I was still quite satisfied with Twitter’s app until they launched version 4. Then the Twitter app became much less likable and useable. Even my wife agrees. I had heard and read reviews on Tweetbot, so I thought I’d give it a try. Hands down, it is the best Twitter client I have used on my iPhone. I’m still getting used to some of its features, but it is well worth the purchase.

View iTunes Store

Maps

I often need quick access to maps. While it is no GPS, it works sufficient to my needs.

Clock

My alarm clock.

Camera

Quick access to take a photo or some video. Apple’s addition to use the increase volume button as a shutter release in iOS 5 was long overdue and much welcomed.

WriteRoom

I started off with WriteRoom a few years back on my Mac, and recently picked it up for my iPhone and iPad. The Dropbox integration is great and is a bit part of how I run Phanza.

View iTunes Store

Reeder

Like WriteRoom, I have this app for my Mac, iPhone and iPad. It really is a great app to keep up with all your feed subscriptions. The only annoyance I have is the reliance and requirement of Google Reader. I would much rather see the feeds sync between apps over Apple’s iCloud system.

View iTunes Store

ESV Bible

Bible studying, searching, and reading when I don’t have my read and worn-in green ESV bible.

View iTunes Store

Photos

Love looking at through my photos. I have several photo editing apps I keep on a secondary screen.

Instacast

This is totally what the podcast portion of Apple’s Music app should have been. It syncs and streams your podcast subscriptions. The app will also import your podcasts from the Music app.

View iTunes Store

Instapaper

Although I don’t use Instapaper nearly as often on my iPhone as I do on my iPad, it still is used often enough to gain home screen priority.

View iTunes Store

Settings

Until I have quick access to turn down the brightness of the screen without going into Settings, this app will remain on my home screen.

OmniFocus

Since the apps in the Dock are top-level and on every screen, I won’t go into much detail. Phone, Mail, and Music should all be quite obvious as to their intended function. OmniFocus is one of those apps that took a bit of thinking before making the plunge. I now have and use the app on my Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It really is a great utility to keep track of projects and keeping thoughts organized.

View iTunes Store

Wallpaper

The final, and big, element of the home screen is the background wallpaper. Currently I have my phone’s background set to Hector Simpson’s Dark Collection.

Here is a screen shot of my home screen for your viewing pleasure.